Daybreak
by Pepperonian
Summary: Let's be honest, Slytherin's reputation is mud. And since the defeat of Voldemort, things have only gotten worse. They were meant to be cunning, resourceful and proud. Now they're jeered at and cowed. Hogwarts is divided, and Slytherins are on the way out. Through the eyes of a Gryffindor Witch, we follow the turmoil that haunts the halls of Hogwarts years after the war. SYOC Open.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hogwarts, The Wizarding World and select Characters were created by J.K. Rowling and the rights to such creations belong to her. Original Characters not mentioned in the "Harry Potter" works and connected materials have been created by Pepperonian, . As such, use of these characters in any way should be approved by Pepperonian, as a common courtesy.**

 _ **September 1, 2015**_

 _ **The Casting of Characters**_

In the Compartment G, in the fifth carriage of the Hogwarts Express, there sat a girl. It is through this girl we will tell a story. It's not a particularly nice story, but nor does it carry the devastation of the story of Harry Potter. No, this is a tale of early morning, a tale of a time when the night still lingers and makes it hard sometimes to see the coming day. But ultimately we must hope that this will be a tale of Daybreak.

The girl in Compartment G, through whom this tale is told, had no clue of what would await her when she got off the gleaming scarlet train in which she was so safely swaddled. Yet, the train had not yet left the station at that point in time, so how could she have possibly known. Her bright blond head was tucked safely in a book. She had no idea of what would happen once her friends joined her on the train for their fifth year of a magical education. But before we begin, let us familiarise ourselves with the cast of this tale.

She, the girl sitting early on the train, was called Penelope Jacobs, a half-blood witch of questionable heritage, and of above average magical talent. Her friends called her Penny and for the most part she was happy with her life. A proud Gryffindor, good friend and astonishingly good transfiguration student (but more on that later) Penny had never had never really wanted for anything in her life. She'd grown up a muggle, with only her single muggle father to look after her, but had been told her mother was a witch at around age ten. She'd made fast friends on her first train trip to Hogwarts, and at the age of fifteen now had a friend base spanning several houses and year groups at school. She was pretty popular, but mainly because she was friendly and pretty with open features, glossy hair and intelligent eyes, yet in the main people tended to glance over her. People would see Penny, but she wasn't noteworthy.

Neither was the next soul to join her in the compartment. At least, people wouldn't know she was noteworthy in the slightest. Perhaps that was because almost everything about the girl who sat herself down next to Penny screamed turn around and run away. Her hair was tatty and wild about her shoulders, with a horrendous fringe covering her forehead and impeding her vision. This girl's eyes were hard, almost battle-weary, though the war had been fought over ten years before, and she had an unfortunate habit of glaring heatedly at almost everyone who dared look at her. The fact that she was a large physical presence, tall and lean, almost savage looking, only added to her lack of, well, friendliness. Of course that was a look that Allison Brown had carefully cultivated. She would have preferred to wear her uniform neatly and tie her unruly auburn hair back, but out of concern for other people, she made them stay away. As for the reason for this, well, more on that later, but it certainly has to do with the mother that Ally never like to mention to people. Ally had opened herself up to only two people at Hogwarts, and she sat beside one of them.

Before the train set off for the school where this tale mainly unfolds, more people joined with Penny and Ally in Compartment G of the Fifth Year Carriage.

The grinning, perpetually good looking son of war heroes Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Teddy Lupin stuck his head through the door on his way to the Prefects meeting to say hello, and would they be interested in group butter beers down at the Three Broomsticks next time they were in Hogsmeade?

(The answer was yes and they would get back to him about their other friends)

Following closely behind him was free spirited, but rather ordinary Harley Hanson, who asked how their holidays had been and had they seen a guy named Wilfred pass through here.

(The answer was no, but they talked about how Gryffindor was definitely going to smash Hufflepuff this quidditch season, a fact which Harley disputed because he was the Captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team.)

Drop-dead gorgeous and popular Victiore Weasley popped in for a while, sitting down to talk to them before remembering she'd left her little sister Dominique alone and dashing off but not before asking them if they knew who the prefects in their year and house were.

(The answer was yes, and you can guess who, Vic)

The pair saw others in passing. When Penny got up to go to the toilet, marking the page of her transfiguration text book carefully, she ran into her friend's brother, Arthur Abbott, whose Slytherin tie was loosely knotted around his neck and who was also avoiding his brother.

Matilda Brown, Ally's little sister and in the same year as Dominque, went wildly dashing past when Penny emerged from the loo.

It is worth noting at this point in our tale what Penny saw as she made her way back through the train and her experiences as she went.

The carriage for fifth years was less crowded than usual, but only slightly, with some of their cohort now away at the prefects meeting, a boy and a girl from each house.

As she passed, on her way back to Ally and Compartment G most people saw her and waved, friendly. She would stop to talk to the bloke she'd shared a cauldron with in fourth year potions, a helpful Ravenclaw called George Corner, or she'd be waved into compartment B for a quick chat with Tory Beale and her new boyfriend (Henry?) and their gang of friends, all Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff people chatting together about the new school year, asking if they'd done the homework set by Professor Chang. Penny saw Victoire again, a Gryffindor, kissing her boyfriend, Teddy, a Hufflepuff who'd obviously escaped the prefects' meeting early.

Outside Compartment E, a couple of Gryffindor blokes in her year were scoffing every flavour beans and laughing their heads off about something. "Hey, Penny" they greeted her amiably. They all had class together, they were all Gryffindor, and Penny could call them all by name. Stuart Lethbridge, Mickey Hall, Gary Heyworth, Brendon Brangan and Fred Weasley II, the latter waving his father's latest produce whilst the others all laughed and Stuart spewed into a handy cauldron before chewing the correcting half of the Puking Pastille.

Yet, just before reaching the safety of the quiet compartment she shared with Ally and their friends normally, Penny made the mistake of looking into the adjacent compartment, where the Slytherin students sat in sullen silence, some already in their robes though the train had only just started moving. None of them looked very happy to be back at school, which struck Penny as odd, at the time, because she was strangely ecstatic to be going back to Hogwarts.

It didn't occur to Penny at the time, though later she would reflect on how true this scene was of the Slytherins. How they were always separate from the others, as if walled off in some manner, almost as if they were contagious. What Penny also didn't notice at the time, was none of them seemed to revel in this otherness. In fact, it looked like it depressed them, saddened them.

But, as stated, she didn't dwell on this that September First day, as the autumn leaves began to fall. Instead she returned to her friend, Gryffindor like her, like Victoire and like the heroes of years just recently past.

In a short time another witch joined Penny and Ally. She was the last of their trio, perhaps more noteworthy than most for her academic talent and athletic ability. In any other time Margo Abbott would have been one of the most popular girls in school. She was a beautiful girl, second only to Victoire who was part Veela, with softly waving fawn hair and a vivacious smile. Margo was both fiercely driven and loyal to a fault, possessing also an amount of the stubborn bravery Gryffindor students were well known for. However, for all her many talents and fortunes, even her pure-blood status as an Abbott, Margo could not compete with having war heroes for parents. Occasionally this got to her. She was undeniably talented, but many preferred to associate themselves with members of what had been dubbed one year as the "Phoenix Five" referring of course, to the family lines stemming from perhaps the most famous of the Second Wizarding War veterans. The Potters, any of the Weasleys, the Granger-Weasleys, the Lupins (of which there was only one remaining) and the Longbottoms. As it stood, Margo could claim only a tremulous connection to Neville Longbottom, the snake slayer, through marriage. People preferred to seek out the current members of Phoenix families, instead of the way they might normally gravitate to Margo. The youngest of a somewhat divided family, this lack of attention where she thought it sometimes due resulted in a little bit of an attention complex, and a chip on Margo's shoulder.

Yet, overall, it can be seen that the trio of girls in compartment G were happy. They talked and they laughed together as the train progressed through the English countryside. And so, with most of our cast now in play, we begin our tale of Daybreak in the compartment used by so many over the years, but now resided in by three underage witches of different backgrounds but common house.

 _ **September First, 2015**_

 _ **"The Girls in Compartment G"**_

Penny closed the door of the compartment softly behind her, triumphantly gripping the pile of sweets in her arms. Her two closest friends looked at her from where they were sitting and Penny grinned at them.

"I got them," she said, unnecessarily, as chocolate frogs threatened to spill from her grip. Penny sat down next to her wild-looking friend and emptied her collection into the cauldron she'd removed from her baggage.

Across from them Margo beamed. "I can see that, Penny." She'd changed into robes whilst she was gone, Penny noted, and her new prefect badge was on prominent display, gleaming against the dark school uniform. Other friends might have been annoyed with Margo's enthusiasm to inform the world of her new position, but Penny ignored it. Margo was one of her closest friends, and deserved the role. Besides, Penny was happy to use it as a reason to celebrate.

Ally sat silently by the window, staring moodily at the passing landscape. Penny stuck a straw in a carton of Hephzibah's Finest Pumpkin Juice and gave it to her.

"Cheer up, Ally," She admonished. "It's a brand new school year and we have reason to scoff our faces."

She raised her own juice carton, "Congrats on Prefect, Margo."

Margo beamed again, and Penny noted that at least one of her friends was in a very good mood. It wasn't however unusual for things to be off with Allison the first day of school. She and Margo tended to ignore it. Especially if, like today, there had been one of her monthly cycles just a few days before.

Ally managed a weak smile, probably to placate Margo, and raised her juice box too.

Margo grinned in reply and grabbed one of the chocolate frogs from the floor, tossing it to Ally.

"Come on, Brown, eat up. Wizard's Chocolate's meant to be one of the best restorative foods in the known world."

"Trust you to know that," But despite her harsh tones, the raggedy girl was already in better spirits.

Penny leaned into her friend to get a better look at the card. "Who'd you get?" She asked, craning to look past the enchanted frog to see the celebrity card underneath. "Is it someone remotely interesting?"

Across from them Margo grimaced at her own card, "can't be worse than who I got, Runckip Smith," she said with distaste. "It says here he was a Slytherin."

Ally grunted her approval of Margo's assessment around her mouthful of chocolate.

"What'd good old Runckip do, Margo?" Penny asked.

Margo frowned, "Typically Slytherin." She said, disdainfully, "killed some poor goblin and was an advocate for the continued enslavement of elves." She continued on in a tone that suggested she was completely above any kind of Slytherin activity.

"History appears to have reached a consensus." Margo announced to the compartment, "Slytherins are not good people."

Penny frowned a little at that, something about the statement seemed a little off. Admittedly, what her friend was saying was very true. Even looking at recent history, Slytherin house had produced some of the most despicable wizards and witches of the time. Yet, still the words tugged at her conscious.

"Well," said Ally, having finally swallowed her frog in its entirety, "I got Ronald Billius Weasley."

Penny shook herself clear of her thoughts, "oooh." She said, excitedly, recalling a moment in the holidays where she'd found herself in Diagon Alley. "I saw him in the holidays."

Then she was instantly caught up in excited conversation with her friends about the famous war hero, Ron Weasley, forgetting entirely the house of Slytherin, at least, for the time being.

By the time the crisp autumn evening had started to fall, Penny and Ally had changed into their robes and the conversation had turned from Ron Weasley (Did you see Hermione Granger, too?) to Defence against the Dark Arts and their Professor of the subject, Cho Chang.

"Did you do that homework she set over the summer, Penny?" Margo was asking. Penny knew from experience that Margo would have had hers done for at least a month, neatly printed on her best parchment with her huge eagle feather writing quill.

"Yeah," said Penny, leaving out that she'd rushed it the night before after locating half of her uniform that had somehow gone missing over the holidays. "Dementors sound terrifying, don't you agree?"

"Oh yes," said Margo excitedly, and Penny felt particularly tactful after avoiding the other essay subject Professor Chang had asked them to write on, Werewolves.

"I really found writing the section about repelling Dementors the easiest to write about, because the Patronus Charm is just so interesting." Margo was saying.

"You know where Chang learnt it from, don't you?" Ally joined in for once. "Harry Potter, himself, you know, when she was in Dumbledore's Army with my…." But she trailed off.

"Really?" said Penny, interested. Dumbledore's Army was pretty famous, like the Order of the Phoenix, knowing a member was pretty cool, at least that was what Penny thought.

Unlike Penny, Margo was nodding knowingly, "yeah, I know, cool, right?" She paused for a second, thoughtful, "Her Patronus is a swan."

"It's amazing, isn't it," Penny said, "A group of students banding together to fight oppression. We could go generations without anything like that ever happening again at Hogwarts."

Ally snorted, "That's a good thing." She said, almost scathingly. "There not being a reason for students fighting, that's good." Penny thought her friend looked almost wistful, "It's peaceful."

Silence descended on the carriage, and Penny cast around for something to say.

"So…"

She was interrupted by the opening of the compartment door, allowing the entry of three others. Victoire Weasley folded herself gracefully in beside Margo, flipping sleek blond hair over one shoulder.

"What's up Gryffindor losers," Said Teddy Lupin, sauntering in behind his girlfriend and accompanied by Harley Hanson, grinning like the egg he was.

"Sup, Ally, Margo" He said, nodding at them amiably, before seating himself next to Penny. "Wotcher, Penny," he said by way of greeting.

Allison glared at the boys, but managed a nod to Victoire, who was her roommate. "What are you doing here, you Hufflepuff gnomes?"

If Penny didn't know her as well as she did, she would have thought that Ally genuinely didn't want them here, but she knew that Ally actually liked Teddy, and maybe even Harley, though she thought that a little bit of a stretch.

Teddy replied to Allison's barbed comment in kind, "Checking in with you, Ally, to see if you've got the balls to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year."

Ally's eyes flashed with menace, but she responded evenly enough. "Nah, Lupin, I wouldn't be challenged playing your sorry lot."

This was a conversation had annually between the two, ever since one summer get together where Teddy had seen Ally lay waste to an entire team, a team which included two of the Gryffindor chasers and the Hufflepuff seeker after scoring eleven goals against the Ravenclaw keeper in about half as many minutes before Victoire, who'd been playing seeker on Ally's side for a laugh, caught the snitch (an enchanted golf ball, painted gold) after charming it to fly right into her hand.

Mackenzie O' Dwyer, known as Mack, and a beater on the actual Gryffindor side alongside Margo, had asked her to try-out the following year, saying that the captain would surely pick her, but to Teddy's utter surprise, Ally had declined, a choice Teddy had pestered her about ever since.

Harley shook his head slowly, "You're bloody mental, Brown," He said, "But I'm glad to hear it, we lost our seeker when Charlton left last year, we wouldn't stand a chance against Gryffindor if you joined the side."

"That's right" said Ally significantly, "I'm being a good sport, giving you an even chance."

"Not bloody likely!" Cut in one half of Gryffindor's renowned all-female beater pairing, Margo Abbott.

Victoire grinned, joining in. "There's nothing even about it! Gryffindor will waste your sorry arses."

Teddy kissed her on the head, cheekily, "Of course, poppet."

Teddy Lupin was rewarded with a smack upside the head for his troubles.

The Great Hall was decked out for the start of term feast, welcoming back those students who were returning and greeting those yet to arrive. Penny sat amongst her year at the table draped in gold and red, waiting for the first years to join them.

Margo had wandered off to chat with Mackenzie O' Dwyer, probably about something Quidditch, and Victoire was down the table a bit with her cousin Fred. Penny assumed they were waiting to welcome Dominique, should the latest Weasley be sorted into the house they historically belonged in.

"Do you think the latest Weasley will make Gryffindor?" Mickey Hall was asking a general question.

Penny frowned thoughtfully, "It seems to be a pattern, doesn't it?"

Raye Brocklehurst, a witch with very short brown hair, piped up, "Well all the Weasleys the generation before were Gryffindor," she said, before reciting from memory, "William, Charles, Percy, Fred and George, Ronald and Ginevra"

"Yes," said Penny slowly, "And Fred and Vic are both Gryffindor, but Lucy isn't"

This was, of course true. Lucy Weasley, a fourth year girl and the eldest daughter of Percy Weasley, a ministry official, was in fact in Ravenclaw.

The others mumbled agreement before turning to other subjects, but Ally instead looked faintly green.

"Do you think if family members have a history of ending up in the same house, there's more chance the pattern will break?" She asked, anxiously, gripping suddenly at Penny's sleeve.

Penny was shaken, Ally's sister was starting this year, of course, but why should she have any worries about what house she'd end up in?

"Tilda will be fine, Ally," Penny settled on saying, 'no matter what house she ends up in." Both of them ignored the obvious unsaid words of that statement, and then they no longer had to talk about it as Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress, stood to address the assembled second through seventh year students.

They quieted for the sorting, watching as Professor Chang, who was this year in charge of the process, led in the smallest students of the school.

They shuffled in anxiously, and Penny remembered briefly her time just before her sorting, staring nervously as the assembled houses looked up at you. Two kids in the line stood sopping wet, and Penny recognised Tilda Brown, Ally's sister as one of them.

The Head Boy and Girl brought out the stool and hat from the chamber behind the staff table, setting it down for the first years to be sorted.

The hat began its song, and finished it to wild applause.

Professor Chang stood behind the stool, a list of names printed on Parchment.

Armand, Jenny was the first to be sorted, the hat taking no longer than thirty seconds to place her into Ravenclaw, her tie and crest on her robes subtly changing as she sat down at the table into the blue and bronze of her new house.

Atwell, Jefferson became a Slytherin and Barnette, Constance another Ravenclaw before Tilda took her turn on the stool.

Penny glanced around at Ally, who was watching intently as Chang said,

"Brown, Matilda"

The hat had barely touched the girls head before it screamed, "Gryffindor!" to the thunderous applause at the Gryffindor table. Penny saw Ally grin as her sister became the first new Gryffindor of the year.

The little, shaggy haired girl, still dripping wet craned her neck from where she sat down the table to look for her older sister.

Ally gave her thumbs up and Tilda grinned, returning the gesture.

"You had nothing to worry about, you egg." Penny told her friend during the sorting of Spencer, Jackson as the hat took a long time to decide on Hufflepuff.

"Yes," said Ally, looking a little abashed and slightly happier than before, "But she's a right terror sometimes… I didn't really want to see her in Slytherin."

And Penny's subconscious niggled again.

"She's a Gryffindor, just like you." Penny affirmed, as they watched Vic's little sister take the stage.

"Weasley, Dominique" said Chang, smiling at the girl as she made her way past, towards the ancient black hat.

The hat took quite a while to consider Dominique. Penny wondered what it was swaying between. Was it considering Gryffindor for this Weasley? Or was she likely to break family tradition.

At three minutes and thirty-seven seconds Dominique Weasley's plain black Hogwarts tie changed into yellow and black.

"Hufflepuff!" Proclaimed the hat, as Dominique, her hair far more ginger than her sister's, left the stool for the Hufflepuff table, which was applauding their newest member.

Penny noticed Victoire and Fred seemed to be clapping the loudest. Fred stuck his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistled.

As the evening progressed, and some of the younger students started drooping a bit, Penny found herself thinking about Tilda and Dominique and their families. Vic and Fred seemed perfectly fine that Dominique was not in Gryffindor, but Ally had seemed to think it was Gryffindor or bust. Not for the first time that day, she found herself considering the Slytherin table, wondering if, like Ally, the Weasleys had the same prejudice against the house.

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello there, and thank you so much for reading this first Chapter. I'm sure more will be on the way shortly, as soon as I can get around to it. Living in the Southern Hemisphere and being a high school student, I am on Summer Holidays so I should be fairly active. I've had a long hiatus from this site since officially retiring from writing Warriors Fanfiction after, how do I put this, growing up somewhat.**_

 _ **I sincerely hope you enjoy this story and all follows, favourites and especially reviews are very welcome. I will at this point say that coming from New Zealand I favour the way of spelling some words that I grew up with, I believe this differs somewhat from American Spelling (eg, I spell Color, Colour, etc.). I am a huge fan of constructive criticism of my work, but please refrain from pointing out these spelling differences.**_

 _ **On another note, this is a story with an open SYOC for minor characters. I have already written most of the Gryffindors in Penny's year, but most other year groups and houses have ranks that need filling. I'm not too fussy with what information you give me, name, house and year group will do nicely. I can promise that if you submit a character they will most likely appear or be mentioned in a chapter, but please restrict your submissions to just one or two! :)**_

 ** _Next Chapter: Classes start and Margo's brothers enter our tale with a bang. Penny learns more about the Wizarding Wars and the significance of Slytherin and Gryffindor in the conflicts and Allison struggles with a "family issue" that won't stay hidden for much longer and Matilda and Dominique make a unique friendship with another student._**


	2. Chapter 2, Part One

_**A/N: Warning, swearing and general foul language in the following chapter in the sub-part "Abbott Times Three". If you wish to skip this an overview of this chapter will be provided in the next update. Additionally, Chapter Two ended up being way too long, so this is Chapter Two, Part One.**_

* * *

 _ **September First, 2010**_

 _ **"The Headmistress of Hogwarts and Affiliated Issues"**_

Minerva McGonagall was an exceptional witch, there was no doubt about that. One of the most talented witches of the century, certainly when it came to Transfiguration, which her many past students could certainly attest to. She had joined the ranks of the animagus in Britain at a respectable age, and in both cat form and as a human, people often shied away from the authority she carried herself with.

In short, Minerva McGonagall certainly appeared to be all a Headmistress should be. Magically talented and certainly wise, she was a formidable figure at Hogwarts to be sure. However, on nights like this very one, the first day of autumn where the cold winds of winter began to blow down from the hills, the old witch couldn't help but feel a little…inadequate.

Despite her age she stood straight-backed behind her desk, which had belonged to two of the most remarkable wizards she had ever known before it had belonged to her. The principals of Hogwarts were arrayed before her, most dozing in their frames, though old Armando Dippet was scratching on parchment with a drooping quill. There was a vast stronghold of knowledge contained within these portraits. Witches and Wizards past who had been great and good, yet the one with which Minerva wanted to talk with remained an empty landscape in an ornate frame.

It only increased her feelings of inadequacy, truth be told. Dumbledore had been a secretive man, to be sure, but she had imagined she would at least have been able to talk with him freely, even if he was only a portrait on a wall.

Yet, in the years since she had attained the post, the great man had only appeared briefly and on special occasions.

On the anniversary of his death one year she had sworn she'd seen his great silver beard trail out of the frame.

Ten years after the defeat of Voldemort he had conversed with her briefly, yet his words had made little sense. He appeared utterly himself, of course, but had imparted no useful knowledge what so ever. That had not been a particularly good night. Even now she could recall with crystal clarity the wave of sadness and helplessness that had swamped her after the painting had disappeared once more. She'd wept and cursed and even thrown a goblet of Ogden's Fire Whiskey at the mildly disgusted portrait of Severus Snape, who'd sneered at her just the wrong way that night.

That had been 2008. The years appeared to be gathering in speed now, passing her by more quickly. She found herself in 2010, with the two years in between seeming a blur. Minerva had to think hard to recall the names of the past head boys and girls of those two years.

And now she found herself here, on yet another night of new beginnings, with another group of students eager to learn what they'd been born into. Witchcraft and Wizardry, words so often taken for granted. Sometimes she wanted to tell them just how important magic was. It was to be treasured, in any form it came in.

Of course this had been the issue plaguing the magical world for generations. Who was worthy of magic. Some, like herself believed the magical worthy of magic because they'd been born with it. Minerva really didn't think that blood-status or Hogwarts house mattered. Yet, the tensions of the war years persisted even now. Some parents were still nervous about sending their children to school.

She continued to stare up at what should have been the portrait of her mentor, her friend and leader. He remained absent, just like the unity that continued to elude the school, even in the peace. Minerva was frustrated. She couldn't for the life of her diagnose the problem with the school. Hardly any students came forward with serious complaints about the goings on and as far as she could tell the mass bullying that had been inflicted on Harry Potter by an entire house many years before had faded away into nothingness. Gryffindor house seemed particularly at ease… Her thoughts trailed off and she stared into nothingness for a while longer.

Minerva thought about Potter. She thought about how she had felt watching him lead her house in the years he had been here. She had been the head of house, but the true leader of Gryffindor had almost certainly always been Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, The Chosen One.

Unity. She missed it.

Yet, for the first time in a long time, her musings were interrupted. The cold, dry voice of the portrait of Severus Snape entered her thoughts, questioning.

"The Brown girl, Minerva, I heard she was sorted tonight."

"Yes," said McGonagall, "she was."

"Like her mother, I presume?"

"In more ways than house, Severus," she said and the portrait of the short-lived Headmaster frowned.

"I take your meaning," He said deliberately. "The condition was inherited then?"

Minerva had not yet looked at the portrait of Snape. She had remained fixated on the portrait that was empty. "She first displayed signs at age ten." She said, maintaining her lack of eye contact. "The staff have been apprised of the situation, but not the student body."

"Just like Lupin," he said, with the barest hint of a sneer in his voice, "though I doubt any child will discover the matter."

Minerva made a noise of agreement, "Brown is a fairly common name. They will not connect it to her mother."

"Or so you hope, Minerva" commented the painting of Snape, every bit as cynical as his flesh and blood self.

Yes, Minerva thought, _so I hope_

 _ **September Second, 2015**_

 _ **"Abbott at Breakfast" or "Margo has Family Issues"**_

The fifth year girls' dormitory in Gryffindor tower did under no circumstances disappoint. That was probably because it was almost exactly the same as previous dormitories the Gryffindor girls had shared.

The four-poster beds were as ancient as ever, but the mattresses were still comfortable and supportive. In fact, Penny didn't really feel the need to leave. She had wrapped herself in that lovely cocoon of sleep and warmth one often experiences when waking up wrapped in blankets. The wind last night had blown away the autumn clouds threatening early snow flurries and left the sky clear for the sun to shine through the window by her bed. With the sun warming her face in such a delightful manner, Penny decided in a moment of extreme sleepiness she would become the ghost of the fifth year girls' dormitory.

That was until someone threw a pillow at her head.

"Agh!" It had hit her square in the face, banishing sleep and comfort from her mind. Penny sat up abruptly, brandishing the offending pillow menacingly.

"Who threw that?"

Margo smirked at her from across the room. "I did, sleepy head," she gestured around the room, "everyone else has gone down to breakfast."

This was when Penny just so happened to notice that Margo was in uniform already, robes fastened over the skirt, blouse, striped red and gold tie and jersey that Penny was also supposed to be wearing. She also noticed that all the other Gryffindor girls were gone, even Ally, who was notorious for sleeping in late.

"Merlin's Pants," she swore. "We're going to be late to the first day of school."

Margo raised perfectly groomed eyebrows at her. "No," she said, " _you're_ going to be late, unless you're ready in five minutes, which is exactly how long I'm waiting."

Penny had never moved so fast in her life. Margo just laughed as she hastily brushed her hair and pulled her school jumper on over her head, grabbing her robes as she hurtled out of the door and after Margo.

"Wait up, Margo, you egg."

Margo stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady and tapped her foot impatiently as Penny leaped down the rest of the stairs to catch up with her friend.

They reached the Great Hall together, and Penny looked up at the enchanted ceiling, which today reflected the crisp blue sky outside. The pair seated themselves amongst a knot of other students, near a huge pitcher of Pumpkin Juice, which Penny rather liked, despite how odd it might have seemed to her once. She poured herself a glass of the stuff and Margo borrowed a copy of the Daily Prophet from fellow Gryffindor Beater, Mackenzie O' Dwyer, with whom she'd been conversing the previous night.

A wee way down the table, teachers were starting to hand out the year's timetables, starting with the first years. She saw Tilda, Ally's little sister, grin mischievously at Professor Purser, the head of Gryffindor (and professor of Muggle Studies) as he handed her the timetable.

"I wonder why she was soaking wet last night," she said, to no one in particular.

Margo turned away from the paper, and followed Penny's gaze down the table to where Tilda sat, joking with a Gryffindor boy in her year. "I suspect it involved the lake," she said, before turning back to the paper.

Penny snorted; of course it had involved the lake. That much Penny had been perfectly capable of figuring out herself, but Margo wasn't generally that engaged once she'd started to read, she tended to blank most things.

Normally Penny had little to no problem with it. Ally was unusually chipper in the mornings, and was good fun to talk with. But today her other friend was oddly missing, neither with her sister nor with them. Victoire was also unfortunately taking her breakfast with her boy Accordingly, Penny was conversation-less that breakfast, forced to resort to reading the back of the Daily Prophet that Margo was holding.

 _Celestina Warbeck Divorces Wealthy Inventor Husband_

The headline took up most of the back page, and the article detailed almost every single aspect of the famous singer's marriage. Penny finished it in about two minutes. Most of the article was an image of the witch herself, smiling and waving at the cameras. A much smaller photo of her ex-husband looked disgruntled and constantly tried to scuttle away from the photographers, holding his hands up to obscure his face.

Another headline read, _Potterwatch Display at Ministry to Commemorate Wartime Broadcast._

That was more interesting, though much shorter than the Celestina Warbeck piece.

 _Abbott under Inquiry_

Abbott. It was a small box; the Ministry under Shacklebolt had put restrictions on the space the Prophet could use to publish articles on the Ministry. Yet it undeniably read,

 _David Abbott, Deputy Head of Muggle Relations at the Ministry for Magic, has been placed under inquiry as of the first of September._

She stopped herself reading more. It seemed too private.

"Margo," she pointed hesitantly at the article, and her friend looked around at the article.

"Is that about your dad?"

What happened next took a while for Penny to fully internalise. It was like she took temporary leave of her body to watch the proceedings.

Margo's eyes scanned the article quickly, widening fractionally as she read. Penny watched her friend's face close off, expression turning stony.

"Stay here." It was an order, and the prefect slammed the paper down on the table, spilling Penny's juice into a platter of eggs.

She followed Margo's path across the hall with anxious eyes, remembering the muggle cartoons she'd watched when she was little, thinking of the figures with storm clouds over their heads. The enchanted sky was having the same thoughts. Penny watched it darken over Margo's head until she was quite literally storming across the hall, towards the Ravenclaw table.

From where she sat, Penny scanned the table. Her eyes brushed over almost the entire table before she found him, sitting right near the back of the hall, in what appeared to be a heated conversation with a red-headed Ravenclaw boy over the paper.

Penny felt strange in the way only a close friend did when their friend was upset or disturbed. Margo wasn't a storm type of person. She was classically correct in every manner.

Composed, immaculate, totally in control.

Margo.

This brewing tempest was not Margo, and therein laid the cause for Penny's subsequent distress. Never in the years had she known one of her best friends in the world had she completely closed off like that.

 _ **"Abbott Times Three"**_

It is as this point things got blurry in the memory of Penelope Jacobs. This can probably be attributed to the distance between what happened and Penny, who remained sitting at the Gryffindor table the entire time. We draw our information of this incident from more second-hand witnesses, clustered around a common room fire that one night, exchanging tales of what had already been described as one of the biggest sibling fights of Hogwarts History.

What we glean from these sources, whom were in fact much closer to the "action" than Penny, are more or less deemed to be accurate.

The Gryffindor Prefect stood confrontationally over the Ravenclaw boy, who was also a Prefect, though a year ahead. Her posture was rigid with barely contained fury. Her spine poker straight with supressed rage, arms folded tightly across her chest in indignation, almost as if she was trying to keep herself together.

Reports differ from this point, some say Margo Abbott, Gryffindor Fifth year jumped the Sixth Year Ravenclaw. Clawing and hissing in what was the best cat impersonation of the year. However after some digging it was discovered this was in fact a result of the vicious rumour mill that often played a role in the social lives of students at Hogwarts.

In reality, many people discovered that day that Margo Abbott (hey, isn't she that hot chick from Gryffindor?), beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team (do you remember the bludger she hit last year?) was in fact the sister of that rather surly Ravenclaw prefect, Harrison Abbott. (Yeah, that dude Harry Abbott from the Ravenclaw team couldn't fly for a month afterwards!)

Harrison Abbott was a good-looking, if somewhat dull, sixth-year. He'd passed his OWLs with stellar grades, made his house Quidditch team in fourth year and dated an increasing number of attractive members of the female student body.

He preferred to go by "Harry", if not because it was shorter than the somewhat preppy, "Harrison," than because it called to mind the most famous wizard of the age, Harry Potter.

(Wait, Harry _Abbott_?)

(Yeah, I know, right!)

That morning over breakfast was also when the entire student body of Hogwarts found out that not only did Harry Abbott get nearly knocked off his broom the year before, it was his little sister Margo, in a moment of extreme professionalism, who did it, because until that point in time, hardly anyone had realised that they were related, because they certainly didn't look alike.

 _On a side note; that particular Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw quidditch game had later gone down in history as one of Ravenclaw's biggest losses. Two of their chasers were in an accident the day before and were unable to play the game. Harry Abbott had been the only first string Chaser to take the field for Ravenclaw that day, and approximately three minutes and forty-eight seconds into the game, Margo hit the "best bludger since Fred Weasley almost decapitated Marcus Flint" at her brother, removing him from the game and allowing no more scoring opportunities from Ravenclaw. The final score had been 370-0 to Gryffindor, as the seekers that day had taken a very long time to find the snitch._

(Wicked! Who knew Margo was such a savage?)

However very few people actually heard the first part of the conversation between the eldest and youngest Abbott siblings that morning, save one long-haired Ravenclaw boy whose natural curiosity had moved him to eavesdrop on that particular conversation, reasoning that gossip was a sure way to attract people's attention for at least a day, and that logically this would improve social standing.

This boy, of relatively little import, was the sixth year who had been needling Harrison just a few minutes earlier about the article that had started the entire situation. His name, though few could recall it in the weeks following, was Aleister.

"They were obviously arguing about Mr. Abbott's inquiry," Aleister was overheard telling some interested Hufflepuff girls, "from what I could gather, something had been going on for weeks, and Harry knew about it, but the formal inquiry was only launched yesterday, and Margo only just found out about it that morning."

The Hufflepuffs had all made sympathetic noises, "Oh," said one, Flora White, "Poor Margo,"

Aleister had nodded, "I know, from what I heard, Margo had picked up on the angst, but Harry brushed her off."

* * *

Margo Abbott was pissed off. Epically.

She was the youngest, and a daughter, in a family dominated by older males. She could rationalise a lot of the over-protective, "Don't tell precious Margo" stuff that went on in the Abbott household. Margo reasoned that sometimes that was a reasonable male instinct to protect females of their own blood. Surely, she thought, they couldn't think she was actually weak.

Now she wasn't so sure it was genetics. What in Merlin's name had they been thinking to not tell her about Dad?

Was she not an Abbott? Did she not count because one day she _might_ take another man's last name? Or was she too young to know that her _father_ was having an affair.

With a muggle.

"What the absolute _fuck_ , Harry." She hissed.

Her big brother, their mother's golden boy, looked distinctly uncomfortable. Like being confronted by his kid sister at breakfast would ruin his reputation, or whatever.

The rest of the conversation was pretty much Margo screeching, to her credit quietly, but screeching nonetheless at him.

Words hurled at him like barbed missiles included, but were not limited to,

"Trust,"

"Family," and,

"For God's freaking sake, Harry, a god damn _Muggle_ "

Finally, "How could you not tell me? Harry, you're my _brother_."

Then, and this was what really made her blood boil like she'd taken Polyjuice Potion, he'd said, "It was the responsible thing to do."

On reflection, her laughter had been manic. Hysterical, like a hyena, she heaved with the indignation, the disrespect and belittling nature of the thing.

He thought it was his fucking _responsibility_ that to ensure she had her father's affair sprung on her by her friend pointing, alarmed, at the back page of the Daily Prophet, with a look like a frightened rabbit on her face.

She was very nearly murderous.

That was before the situation became the worst it could possibly have been without the actual Abbott affair- haver there in the Great Hall with them.

(Wait, doesn't Harry have a brother in Slytherin?)

(Yeah, he was there too, laughed his face off when Margo got him with that bludger last year, Harry hasn't talked to him since.)

(Until this morning?)

(Yeah.)

"Sup, Brother," The newcomer then nodded at Margo, "Wotcher, Runt."

Margo figured that the universe was taking a massive shit on her that morning. It had to be for her to be talking to both of her brothers. At once. Her anger cooled somewhat. Harry was a prat, but she didn't want to see him hurt.

Harry was getting to his feet, and Margo noticed his hand going for the pocket in his robes, and the vein that stood out on his forehead whenever Arthur joined them.

"What are you doing here, Arthur" Her eldest brother's tone was cold, uninviting. Yet Margo knew he couldn't act on those feelings of hostility his voice hinted at.

Not only were there a small crowd of Slytherin students behind Arthur, watching Harry with thinly veiled hostility, Margo herself would defend her sibling. Arthur barely tolerated their parents, a sentiment which Margo found herself echoing alarmingly at that very moment.

Arthur and Margo got along famously well. Where her and Harry had grown apart, she and Arthur had grown closer. He was nothing like his twin, readily able to take and make jokes. He was kinder, too. He'd looked after Margo on her first train ride to Hogwarts.

The only issue Margo had with Arthur was that she hadn't seen him all summer. This was probably because the last time he'd shared a residence with the rest of the family, he and Harry had very nearly destroyed the back yard, and also very nearly killed their Mum's favourite Kneazle.

Unsurprisingly it had been Arthur who'd been given the boot. Both their mother's beloved Ellefin and dear Harry had been able to stay.

But still, the Summer in the company of Harry and her parents still very much rankled with Margo, who, after finishing the summer homework, had spent most of her days wishing she was off gallivanting with Arthur and his Slytherin mates, who she'd met a handful of occasions before and found both enchanting and clever, values she very much favoured in male counterparts, even if they were in Slytherin. Margo had figured that, given how much fun Arthur's Slytherin gang had at school, she would have had fun hanging out with Arthur over the summer instead of in the family home.

Yet, the matter at hand was much, much worse than a dull summer. Any situation Harry was in automatically took a turn for the worst when Arthur interposed himself.

Such as right now.

"I thought that was obvious, Harrison." Unlike Harry, Arthur was able to keep his tone light, teasing, but his words carried with the clear precision of a knife and Margo realised he was angry too.

"Enlighten me," Harry all but snarled it, and Margo wasn't the only one to notice her eldest brother's ferocious grip on his wand in the pocket of his robes. The Slytherins were getting restless; Margo figured they were spoiling for a fight, eager to get at the Ravenclaw and the Gryffindor.

"You could have at least told me father was shagging someone else other than dear old Mum."

The rest of the school was looking on now, as it was wont to do when Slytherins went spoiling for a fight. The righteous indignation that lingered from the war years often prompted members of the other houses to put the Serpent House back in its place whenever conflict occurred.

The boys had kept arguing, "Like you're even a part of the family anymore," Harry was saying, and Arthur was bristling.

The school was watching, and Margo was an Abbott too.

"For Merlin's sake, not now!" She nearly shouted it, and explosion of supressed frustration at the two people who were meant to be her closest allies.

Harry stared at her with something like shock, breaking off another barbed comment he had had aimed Arthur's way.

Arthur was looking at her a little blankly, almost like he'd forgotten who he was.

"This has to stop, this…" she trailed off and gestured vaguely between the two twins, brothers in blood only. "Has to end," she finished lamely.

Then,

So none but her brothers heard, "We can't lose each other, not now."

* * *

General consensus on the three-way Abbott confrontation in the Great Hall?

 _Unfinished_

Likelihood of further sibling rivalry between Arthur and Harrison?

 _Student Body puts it at high; better hope Margo's there to sort their issues._

Anti- Slytherin Aggression rated at?

 _Watch out for Ravenclaws in need of help against onslaughts of Slytherins in the next week or so. Looks like this sibling rivalry will spill into the wider community, and the Slytherins look anxious to quell the conflict on behalf of their very own Arthur Abbott._

Whose side are you on, Hogwarts? Arthur or Harrison? We predict Harrison's got the overwhelming student support, but we all know that Margo will come out on top, Gryffindor girls are boss as!

 _~Extract from the Hogwhisperer, a not-so-clandestine Student Gossip Newsletter released as a special edition, 02/09/2015_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 ** _Wow. What a marathon of writing. That's just part one. Chapter Two is currently looking at being two to three parts long, just for me to get it all into manageable chunks and still fit it in on the story line. Apologies for the swearing. I rate minimal swearing as T, and there was only a little tiny bit, but for future reference I'll always put a warning at the top. The next few chapters will be much more clean._**

 ** _Thanks to all who sent in characters, it helps just being able to slip one in to flesh out the background a bit. I promise I'll try to use them all, though some might appear later than others._**

 ** _This chapters OC's were created by_**

Aleister Bloodrive VII

xXFlameEmpressXx


	3. Chapter 2, Part Two

_**In the Previous Chapter:**_

 _The entire school (almost) is witness to Margo having a massive fight with her brothers Harrison and Arthur after it was revealed in the Daily Prophet her dad was having an affair with a muggle woman and was under inquiry at the Ministry. The student magazine, the Hogwhisperer reports on the issue and amps up anti- Slytherin vibes by favouring Harrison (Ravenclaw) to win in the sibling dispute over Arthur who's in Slytherin._

* * *

 _ **September Second, 2015**_

 _ **"A History of Magic" or "Kiss and Tell"**_

 _ **The History of Magic Classroom, 8:49am**_

Margo didn't come to class after the revelations in the Great Hall that morning. If Penny were her, she would have done the same thing, though it came as a bit of a shock that she was missing class. Margo had never missed class before, her attendance was perfect, or as close to perfect as could be possible.

More surprising, Penny thought as she took a seat in first period History of Magic, was the absence of Ally. As far as she could remember, Ally only ever pulled this kind of thing once a month, and the period for _that_ particular problem had passed just recently, so her absence shouldn't be related to _that_. So, as it was, Penny walked into class alone and searched for someone to sit with.

She was, to her great surprise, early, else she had wandered into the wrong class. There were only two people in the room, besides her.

Avoiding the Slytherin boy with long black hair to his chin, Penny sat next to a Ravenclaw boy in the second row.

He looked up from the parchment he'd been scribbling on, eyes upturned to identify the newcomer.

Penny flashed the boy a smile, slinging her bag over the back of the chair. She offered him her hand,

"I'm Penny," she said, "Penny Jacobs."

The Ravenclaw smiled tentatively in return, "I know," he said, "Morgan White."

They shook hands.

The name sparked a memory with Penny, and she frowned, trying to recall where she'd heard the name before. It had to do with Margo…

"Oh!" She exclaimed, remembering in a heady rush, "I know you. You're top of the year, just in front of my friend Margo."

Morgan looked surprised, "I didn't think you'd have heard of me."

Penny scoffed; ridiculously pleased she had someone to talk to. She was a social person, and she missed not talking to her friends already. "Of course I've heard of you, you're first in the year, I'm surprised you've heard of me."

Morgan smiled again, and Penny noticed he wasn't as quick to laugh as she always was, he was much shyer. "You partnered my sister last year in Herbology, she told me about you once."

She had to stop to think, who had her Herbology partner been in fourth year? The Gryffindors had had that subject with the Hufflepuffs…

"Flora!" She exclaimed, "Flora White!" The name brought to mind the sweet and ever-smiling Hufflepuff she'd replanted mandrakes with. A small girl, with honey-blond hair, Professor Sprout called them the Blondies.

"That's her," said Morgan, "my younger twin."

"Huh," said Penny, "you don't look it." She took a moment to study her companion, drawing the conclusion he looked very little like Flora.

Morgan shrugged, "People say I look more like my brother."

Their conversation proceeded from there. Ignoring the only other early student, the Ravenclaw and the Gryffindor talked as the class filled. Subjects touched on the course material for the year, which had been changed at the last minute, to the books that they required.

Penny had picked all her books up over the holidays, including the recently published, _Wizards at War: The First and Second Wizarding Wars_ by Andromeda Tonks. The book covered, at first glance, the first and second Wizarding Wars, a period Penny had been born after. She'd heard, of course, Margo and Ally mention it, but whilst Margo talked about it with little difficulty (from what Penny had gathered, the Abbotts had had little to do with the war, and Margo had lost no one in those terrible years), Ally always shied away from the topic, preferring to not talk about it. When Penny had asked her about it, Ally had blanked her but once she'd said, "Not everyone was a Potter, Penny, surviving in glory. Not everyone was an Abbott, hiding in their blood-status and wealth. Some were like my family, and we sure as hell lost the war."

Her tone had been fierce. Penny had backed off.

The Wizarding Wars weren't really talked about at Hogwarts. To Penny and other students who hadn't been born into magic, it was hard to understand the taboo around the topic. Penny figured it was just too fresh, too painful.

Accordingly, Penny had slotted the Wizarding Wars as something she couldn't understand, alongside other matters like the house prejudices and hierarchy. She simply figured it was correct to try and ignore the topic; after all, people's assessment of Slytherin seemed pretty correct, they were a sullen lot, never that friendly.

Yet, looking at the course she'd been discussing with Morgan, the faculty at Hogwarts seemed to want them to know about the war. Penny wasn't sure she wanted to.

The noise in the classroom was swelling by the time someone else dared to sit in the front row. Morgan was sitting in the seat next to the window, half hidden from view by a large bookcase, which groaned occasionally under the weight of the ancient tomes. Penny sat directly next to him, to the left, leaving two more seats to her left.

Victoire sat herself right next to Penny,

"Hey," she said brightly, grinning at Penny. "Early for once, are we Penny?" Her eyebrows, perfectly groomed, rose in mocking surprise.

"Hey Vic," Penny said, watching as she swung her satchel elegantly over the back of her chair, noting her lack of school tie and the buttons of her shirt, near her collar, open. "Had fun snogging Teddy?"

Morgan snorted in the corner.

The Eldest Weasley went a delicate shade of pink, "Shove off, won't you Penny?" She retorted, laughing a little to take the edge off. Then her gaze shifted to the boy with the shaggy brown hair behind her, "hey Morgan, I didn't see you behind this big-headed dork."

Morgan raised a hand in half-hearted greeting, "Hey, Victoire, long time no Potions."

Vic smiled at him, "Pity we've got Potions with the Slytherins this year, Potions still being compulsory and all."

Penny made a noise of agreement, "I know, I much prefer this nice mix of houses."

The minutes ticked by in the classroom, and there was no sign of Professor Binns. The Ancient Ghost had yet to be late for a class as far as Penny could remember. It was odd he wasn't here, most people thought he spent his entire life, err, death in the classroom. She moved to keep the conversation going.

"Did you two meet in Potions then?"

Vic shook her head, and Morgan nearly laughed, though looked a little sheepish.

"No," said Vic, "I walked in on him snogging Raye Brocklehurst in an empty classroom."

Penny envisioned shy Morgan with the bold Gryffindor fifth year, Raye Brocklehurst. Morgan with his brown mop of hair and round cheeks, Raye with her spiky dark hair and aggressive manner, she almost laughed, you couldn't have found two more different people.

Morgan's cheeks flamed, " _she_ snogged me!" He protested.

Vic made a dismissive gesture, "you snogged her back."

Penny laughed, "I believe you, Morgan, Raye's in the habit of taking what she wants."

Morgan flushed a deeper shade of red, and Victoire almost giggled, but retained her cool composure, a ghost grin gracing her face instead, "Yes," she agreed, "just like your hairbrush, Penny."

Penny laughed, recalling her roommate's habits, but Morgan made a kind of strangled noise at being compared to a hairbrush.

Vic brushed imaginary hairs from her sleeve, and fished her house tie out from her bag, knotting it expertly around her neck, without the assistance from a mirror Penny still required to tie her tie by hand. Penny got the distinct impression that was skill learnt from many sessions of snogging in empty broom closets before and between classes.

"Now, I wonder where Professor Binns has got too." She stated, after she'd finished preening. "I think it's high time class started," She stated professionally.

Penny giggled, "Only now you've put right what Teddy put wrong."

Victoire glared.

Morgan laughed.

* * *

 ** _"The (Re) birth of Wayfarers" or "Handshakes"_**

 ** _Transit to Greenhouse One, 8:38am_**

Dominique Weasley was the daughter of two of Wizarding Britain's most famous. She was eleven. She was a Hufflepuff.

Dominique was also a fairly enlightened kid. She did, after all, come from a fairly large family of freedom fighters. She was all of the above things, but she didn't let that get to her, didn't let what other people identified her as define her. Her Aunt was Hermione Granger, Muggle-born extraordinaire, if she could be her own person, so could Pure- blooded Dominique.

Not to mention, she was a girl with a fairly large independent streak and a curious mind, like her other Aunt, Gabrielle.

And here she was, Hogwarts, a place where she could be whoever she pleased. No longer was she confined to being Victoire's younger sister, and she'd already broken the Gryffindor stereotype she'd been slapped with as soon as she'd stepped on the train.

Dominique Weasley, most importantly, was her own person. Which was of course the nature of her very deliberate choices that day, first of which was to partner one very specific person in Herbology that morning in first period, Dominique had a plan. Matilda Brown was the key. Because, as it happened, Matilda Brown had rescued the first ever Slytherin first year to fall into the lake in living memory, and Dominique, who was far more conscientious of the benefits of unity at her age than many of her Uncles, was not about to let such an opportunity pass.

The crux of the matter was that Dominique, in her eleven-year-old mind, was determined to prove someone wrong.

And that person was a very unpleasant boy called Niall Finnegan.

Over the course of her life, Dominique reflected as she strode with purpose from the Hufflepuff common room, determined to put something right and prove someone wrong, she had been brought too many public events. Dinners, luncheons, opening ceremonies, even the Quidditch World Cup, you name the event, as one of the Phoenix Five, she'd been there. Her older sister, Vic, was fine at these events. Almost since birth she'd just hung out with Teddy, and they'd kept each other company. Her little brother, Louis had hung out with the Potter boys, both similar in age to him. Dominique had no other members of her extended family her age.

This had led to some unfortunate meetings with people Dominique had little love for. Niall Finnegan was one such boy. At some war resistance reunion or another, Dominique had been introduced to the "maggot that walks," much to her disgust. He thought he was hot stuff. His dad, a somewhat amusing, though war- hardened man named Seamus, had been in her Uncle Harry's secret "army" at Hogwarts, and had fought in the war. Niall was brash, and seemed to think that his parent's involvement in the war made him some kind of Wizarding royalty. The extended Weasley family, arguably the family who fought the most as a collective against Voldemort, didn't think this way. Harry Potter himself was fairly fond of simple family time, and tended to want to leave the war as far behind him as possible. Niall seemed to think that approach was far too normal for the Phoenix Five. He was Niall _Finnegan_ (that's right, my dad blew up the bridge, do you know how many Death Eaters that killed?) and figured that everyone should view him as the celebrity he was.

Dominique disliked him. Immensely.

In a moment of great weakness, she'd joined him on the train at his invitation. He'd spouted anti- Slytherin words, told everyone how he and Dominique couldn't _help_ but be in Gryffindor, and generally tried to impress everyone with his family history and the nobility of the Finnegans, mentioning occasionally how the Weasleys were "close family friends" and motioning at Dominique, as if she was a rare piece of evidence, through which she could nicely prove her point.

On the way he'd sneered at a girl with ratty hair, when Dominique had thought she looked fierce. He'd laughed at an older girl carrying an armful of food from the trolley and nearly dropping it, even though she was Vic's Gryffindor friend, Penny, and Dominique really liked her.

The final insult had been when one kid had turned green in the boats, then gone overboard. Niall had roared with laughter. Dominique had been horrified, and wished she'd had the guts and initiative of the fierce looking girl from earlier, who'd jumped right in after him and hauled him out. To her shame, to try and fit in with how she'd been painted by Niall, Dominique had laughed right along with the others, but the raggedy girl had turned heated eyes on them, and patted the seasick boy on the back.

That girl had been Matilda Brown, she'd been sorted into Gryffindor last night, as Niall had been, but Dominique thought that she, even though Niall had sneered at her, was far braver than Niall was ever likely to be.

Then the boy, she didn't even know his name, had been sorted into Slytherin and Dominique had decided then and there that she didn't care what she was meant to be, because she didn't want to be like Niall Finnegan said she should be, she wanted to be Dominique Weasley, and she was going to be friends with the Slytherin boy, even though she wasn't _supposed_ to even talk to anyone from Slytherin. She was going to apologise to him first chance she got _and_ she was going to tell Matilda Brown exactly how brave she was.

* * *

 _ **The Great Hall, Earlier at Breakfast**_

Tilda wasn't at all surprised when her sister didn't show up for breakfast. She was kept away from her mother and sister's monthly activities, but she wasn't stupid. She knew very well things were getting far, far worse for Allison.

Sometimes this annoyed her, prickled at her thoughts, it was almost guilt. Why should Allison be afflicted and not her? It didn't make sense, but then again, a lot didn't make sense in her life. Allison and her mother's condition was just one aspect that was perhaps the worst injustice.

Tilda wasn't like her mum and her sister, not in _that_ way. She knew, Allison had told her many times, she was free to make friends, to enjoy the life that she'd been given. Yet she, for reasons she didn't fully comprehend, she felt far more at ease away from the student populous.

Her roommates, who currently sat around her, laughing and talking about Herbology, which they all had next, were nice enough, but seemed to be wary of her. Tilda didn't really blame them, nor did she resent that fact. Ironically, she'd always been a bit of a lone wolf. People didn't really come near her and that suited her fine.

Tilda left for Herbology by herself, leaving her roommates to talk and giggle some more. Morons. What were they even laughing about?

Her feet echoed in the corridors, it was still pretty early. Her sister's friends Penny and Margo had only just sat down when she'd been given her timetable, and left soon after. The halls were relatively empty. Tilda let herself wander for a bit, she didn't even think.

Ignoring the couple locked in an amorous embrace, she thought it might have been Edward Lupin and Victoire Weasley, she'd seen photos of them in the Prophet the previous year when it'd done an expose on the Phoenix Five members at the Quidditch World Cup. The article had been written by the same lady who'd done the article on her mum a few months earlier. That'd been a bad day when that came out.

Pushing her way through a heavy door leading to a courtyard where the trees were already losing their leaves, she made her way into the crisp outdoors, and towards Greenhouse One, which she could see over the crest of a hill. Tilda wondered absently if she'd like Herbology. Ally had never really talked about the subject.

She remained occupied by her thoughts until she heard someone calling her name,

"Matilda!"

She turned around, surprised that voice was even speaking to her again. Once he'd been sorted into Slytherin, she'd presumed the boy who she'd pulled out of the lake the previous evening would never speak to her again. Both her mother and her sister despised Slytherins. Ally said that they were sullen and aloof, full of pure-blood nonsense.

Fintan O'Neill, the stammering Irish kid she'd pulled out of the frigid autumn waters of the lake, was hurrying towards her.

She stopped to wait for him, curious. Last night she'd introduced herself, but he'd been shaking and stammering so badly, he'd barely answered with his own name. With the house he was sorted into, Tilda had presumed he thought it beneath him to thank her.

He stopped after catching up to where she was waiting in the courtyard. She fixed him with a hard look,

"What are you doing here?"

Fintan almost blushed, "I wanted to thank you for last night," he said, "I realised this morning I never got too."

Matilda was taken aback.

"Er…" She said. "You're welcome, I guess."

"Cool" was all he said. They stood there for a moment longer, looking at each other awkwardly, as sometimes happens when an unlikely friendship is suddenly formed. Suddenly Fintan stuck out his hand.

Tilda stared at it oddly, and then up at his face. His expression was earnest and sincere. She stuck out her own hand in return. They shook.

"You can call me Finn," he said solemnly.

In spite of herself Tilda flashed him a crooked smile. "Tilda," she said, looking over his shoulder to where a group of his friends were waiting.

One of the Slytherin girls called out to him, "hurry up Finn, we've got Potions with Ravenclaw."

"Coming, Rebecca!" He called back, turning around to go meet up with his housemates, waving a little to Tilda. "Bye then," he said, with a little grin.

Tilda smirked back, the easy friendship she'd just struck up giving her confidence, "See you later, Squidfood." She smiled to show no offence was meant, and received a smile in return.

Heart lighter, Tilda turned on her heel, and returned to walking her solitary path towards Herbology.

* * *

 _ **The Potions Classroom, 8:45am**_

Evelyn Edevau was a good girl. Everyone had always said so. She was smart, bright, and a stickler for the rules. By all accounts a golden child.

If anyone had told her what was to come, who'd she eventually befriend and what she'd become a part of, well, she certainly wouldn't have believed it.

But that's a story to be told at a later date, though the start of it can be observed now, in first year potions, taught by an elderly man with an enormous belly.

The Ravenclaws were, in the main, all present early. Evelyn numbered among them. They stood around a table lined with an assortment of different items. She thought she could recognise a Bezoar, and in one of the cauldrons bubbling softly she thought she could make out a Cure For Boils, identifiable by the soft pink smoke rising slowly into the classroom's atmosphere.

She strained her neck, to get a look at the three other cauldrons on the table and her chunky-framed glasses slid down her narrow nose. She pushed them up her nose with one finger, absent-mindedly irritated at her constant need to repeat that action. Evelyn was also slightly irritated to find that from her current position she couldn't see the other three potions.

"Merlin's beard," she muttered under her breath, an almost signature frown furrowing her brows. "Could people just move a bit?"

The question was rhetorical, of course, as who was listening to her? She had certainly made no friends yet. Sure she was smart, but Ravenclaw was a competitive house. Her roommates had treated her warily, and she could only assume this was because they were slightly intimidated by her. Possibly because she had answered the question to correctly enter the common room last night before even the prefects could.

The question had been typically easy, who was credited with discovering the twelve uses of Dragon's Blood? Evelyn, who had been reading on the train a few hours before a completely updated version of _Hogwarts, A History_ , had answered readily, as the discovery had been made by a previous Hogwarts Head Master, Albus Dumbledore.

The prefects had seemed a little shocked they'd been beaten to the punch by a small first-year, with neat strawberry- blond hair and eyesight so bad her glasses actually made her eyes look huge. Evelyn had shrugged it off, they were probably better educated than her, and the freshness of the memory due to her reading had made the recollection far easier. Yet, that little stunt had made interacting with the others in her year far harder. They had identified her as a threat to their own reputations, and thus were distant. Evelyn had attempted a white flag moment, offering them the use of a more familiar name, "Evie," but they had stared at her blankly. One girl, with straight dark hair and a pointy little nose had told her that it didn't really suit her demeanour.

Evelyn had frowned and not spoken to the rest of them for the rest of the night.

Now, she pushed past them, eliciting a glare from the dark- haired Amy, with her pointy little nose high up in the air. Evelyn leaned over one of the cauldrons, taking a cautious sniff of the liquid. She felt a little light headed, and pulled back from the cauldron. The liquid inside, though simmering softly, was a clear and colourless. She deduced, from the momentary lack of orientation, that the substance was a forgetfulness potion, stronger than most First-years would be able to brew, definitely worth top marks in any practical exam. Most Forgetfulness potions were not as expertly brewed, she reflected, and only when done to an almost perfect degree would they produce an odour that caused temporary disorientation.

The other two were, Evelyn deduced, the other two potions commonly found in the first year potions curriculum. The Herbicide potion was easy to find- it smelt as bad as it would likely taste. That left the potion to the far left of the table, where a thin, bright green liquid was bubbling merrily. Awakening Potion, she thought, pleased she had managed to inspect the potions.

Further musings on the curriculum for First Year Potions were interrupted by the simultaneous arrival of Slytherin House and the renowned Professor Horace Slughorn.

The former arrived in a bunch, and Evelyn was strongly reminded of a flock of sheep huddling together for protection in numbers. Among their members she could pick out several prominent members. The imposing girl with the straw- straight blonde hair and blue eyes Evelyn had watched get sorted into Slytherin the previous night from her spot at the Ravenclaw table, Rebecca Travis, was there. Her sharp eyes were dissecting the room as they spoke, and Evelyn felt the need to rise to the challenge the Slytherin girl would surely present as an intellectual sparring partner. Others were also notable. Her eyes found the slick-haired Ferdinand Holstay, whose father had recently risen to Quidditch prominence in Europe, and been contracted to play for the Tutshill Tornadoes.

Professor Slughorn entered from the curtained off room behind the wide table at the front of the classroom. Evelyn thought he _looked_ harmless enough, though was sure that he wouldn't have achieved the level of renown he had without being a shrewd character. She followed his eyes as he observed calmly the Slytherins shuffling to a less obvious position behind the knot of eager Ravenclaw students.

When all movement had ceased in the classroom, he raised his voice in welcome,

"Welcome to potions, first years!" He grinned, a small twist of his lips as if he were thinking something very amusing. "I promise to try to not favour my own house, though I see a few familiar faces in there!"

His gaze swept over the assembled students. "We'll start by assigning partners." He said, and the class groaned, obviously hopeful they would have been able to choose their own partners, and thus their friends.

Slughorn waved away their protestations, "I'm sure you'll all benefit from the experience of meeting someone new."

The Ravenclaw's looked doubtful, but Evelyn noticed that the Slytherin's faces were blank, free of expression.

Summoning a sheet of parchment, with what she assumed had pre- written pairs on it, Slughorn assigned them all partners and workbenches.

Amy Charlton looked unimpressed when she was assigned Rebecca Travis, and the rest of the Ravenclaws continued to look downcast as they were assigned people from Slytherin.

"Miss Edevau with Mr O' Neill," said Slughorn finally, after nearly all of the class had been partnered, gesturing to a workbench on the right hand side of the classroom, mercifully away from the snobbish Amy Charlton.

Evelyn sat at the work bench, pulling her books out of a worn satchel that had been her grandfather's when he'd been at school in France. She watched her partner out of the corner of her eye. He was a small kid, short and thin, with shaggy light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Fintan O' Neill" he said by way of introduction, sticking out his hand. Evelyn looked down at it, surprised. She had suspected he'd be much more reserved, barely speaking. All previous observations of Slytherins had led her to believe that they were almost aloof from interaction with the other houses.

Gingerly, she took the proffered hand, and shook. "Evelyn Edevau." She said cautiously. Fintan met her gaze steadily. Evelyn looked away.

"It's nice to meet you," she muttered.

Fintan didn't answer, but she thought he might have smiled as he turned around to take his textbooks out of his bag.

Slughorn assigned the last pair, and the Ravenclaw boy looked just as unimpressed as all the others.

The Professor vanished the parchment with a 'pop' and turned with a flourish to the room.

"So, class, before we undertake this journey of discovery of the potions which will make the foundation of your knowledge, let's understand what you already know." He gestured to the table, on which the ingredients and potions were laid out. "I commend those of you who investigated these early. I'll be interested to see your opinions on what these potions are, but first, the ingredients."

Slughorn lifted such ingredients as Aconite or Asphodel. The class answered readily when called upon, Amy Charlton looking smug when she correctly labelled Aconite. Next to her, Rebecca Travis merely looked bored. Evelyn wasn't called upon to answer any questions on the ingredients, she didn't really mind either, and it was mundane naming those simple ingredients, which were the base of such simple potions. However, the naming of the potions would provide an interesting opportunity to display her knowledge.

At last Slughorn asked the question, "and, to those early birds in the room, what's your take on the potions laid out?"

A Ravenclaw boy raised his hand tentatively, "well, I would guess that they're the four main potions from the curriculum overview."

Slughorn evidently thought this response was inadequate, "yes, my boy, yes, very true, but which is which? And how can you tell?"

He looked directly at Evelyn, "Miss Evedau, I saw you very interested in the contents of the cauldrons, would you care to tell us your take on the contents?"

Evelyn met his gaze, "Yes, sir," she said, "I deduced that, from left to right the potions were the Awakening Potion, also known as Wide-eye potion, Herbicide, Forgetfulness potion and then the cure for Boils."

Slughorn nodded, "Excellent work, take five points for Ravenclaw, but" he looked at her shrewdly, "how did you figure it out. Even if you had correctly identified the Cure for Boils by the steam's pink hue and the awakening potion by the green hue of the liquid itself, both Forgetfulness and Herbicide are clear and colourless mixtures."

It was a test, Evelyn knew, but a test she'd already done and received full marks on. "Well," she started, "if only taking into account colour to identify potions, you're only using one sense. To tell the difference between the two I had to use my sense of smell."

Professor Slughorn motioned for her to continue, "and?"

Evelyn continued, "Herbicide is said to taste terrible, and as smell is linked to taste, the nasty smell from the cauldron containing the Herbicide helped me identify the potion as what it was."

"And how did you know the forgetfulness potion was definitely Forgetfulness potion?"

"Because the vapours when directly inhaled made me feel slightly light-headed, Professor, which is a marker of a correctly brewed Forgetfulness Potion."

Slughorn smiled. "Excellent work, Miss Edevau, take another ten points," said Slughorn before he turned to the class. "That was an excellent example of potions identification in work, boys and girls, which is an important skill we'll be learning this year. We wouldn't want to accidentally give someone Herbicide if they really need a forgetfulness potion!"

* * *

The rest of the potion proceeded without event, and Professor Slughorn gave them no homework, though he did ask a question. He held up the bezoar. "Who can tell me what this is?"

To Evelyn's immense surprise, Fintan raised his hand. He'd been silent all lesson, though now his skinny arm was tentatively in the air. "It's a Bezoar, sir."

"Excellent, Mr. O' Neill," praised Slughorn, "and for another five points give me a basic description of its properties."

Fintan spoke again, his voice quiet and unassuming, without a trace of the arrogance Slytherins were meant to speak with, "it's a cure- all, sir."

"Well done, Mr. O' Neill," said Slughorn, "We'll further discuss the usefulness of cure-alls next lesson."

The aging professor bid them goodbye, and the students filed out of the class.

The Ravenclaw boys looked irritable, and Evelyn felt a sense of uneasiness as they approached Fintan as he walked out with Rebecca.

One of them knocked his shoulder, "do you think cure- all's cure nerdiness?"

"Nah," said the other, the teasing tone hard with aggression, "It's medically impossible."

Evelyn felt something she didn't often feel, the strong urge to defend someone else, as Fintan's hands curled into fists.

"Hey!" She called to the boys, "Nerdiness isn't a word, you troll- brained morons!"

The boys scoffed at her, "Why do you care, Edevau?" Asked one, "He's a Slytherin, he's elitist scum," he reasoned.

Evelyn pushed her glasses up her nose, crossed her arms and glared frostily at them, "He's not the one being the arse."

The boys scoffed again and walked off, calling rude words over their shoulders.

Evelyn made her way over to the pair of Slytherins. Fintan gave her a curious look. She stuck out her hand to him. "Sorry I was a bit of an arse, ignoring you and all," she grimaced, "you can call me Evie."

The white flag moment.

Fintan smiled, "Call me Finn."

They shook hands.

* * *

 ** _The Full Moon before September First, 2015_**

 ** _"Break"_**

 _Allison Brown was shivering uncontrollably. Everything hurt. It wasn't supposed to be this bad. She was supposed to be able to just lie there and take it._

 _The empty mug of wolfsbane potion shattered as she tightened her fist around it as the pain seized her again. She groaned._

 _"Merlin, make it stop."_

 _When she heard the first bone break the sense of dread she'd had since the potion had had no effect on the full moon tremors settled heavy in her stomach. She started to cry. One percent, the healers had told her, only one percent was unable to be helped by the potion._

 _She sobbed as her body continued to change, the breaking of Allison Brown and the emergence of the beast that'd been locked up for so long._

 _As the moon rose up over the empty shack in the field, sobs turned to howls._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The way I structured the entire chapter had entirely to do with the two separate main storylines. This chapter was all to introduce the foundation characters to the spin-off of Daybreak that I've had planned for a while called** ** _This is Marauder Town._** **I won't mention who these characters are, because, spoilers, but I think the two different storylines are pretty obvious. The major one is centering on Penny, and her journey regarding Unity and Justice, which are the two core principles at the heart of Daybreak. The second story line occupied most of the second part, with the introduction of more characters and SYOC OC's! These guys will be the leads in** ** _This is Marauder Town._**

 **You'll notice also that the sub-plot with Allison both finishes and starts this chapter, with McGonagall hinting at it in 2010, which was of course the first year Allison, Margo and Penny were at Hogwarts.**

 **It's also fairly obvious what Allison's issue is, I'll clear that up for you: Lycanthropy ie, she's a werewolf for clarification. More on that story will be revealed later, but I hope you enjoyed that tease, because I do enjoy that sub-plot.**

 **Thank you to everyone reading Daybreak, it means so much! Please keep reading and reviewing because I love it, it makes my day when I get another review or I get a PM about the story!**

 **(Please also keep sending in your characters, I'm really good at including them, I promise)**

 **This Chapter's OCs were created by:**

xXFlameEmpressXx

Mary Allen

DarkPhoenixSong (Guest)


	4. Christmas Special

**Author's Note**

 **Hello there, beloved readers, Merry Christmas! Hopefully I'll have another full chapter up by New Year, though it's hard because I am presently absent from my Native New Zealand and across the Tasman Sea in Australia. As such, I am** **regrettably parted from my beloved computer, and I write this from my comparatively far less powerful notebook.** **This device does not support Microsoft Word, where I can type happily for hours, and so the words seem to come with far less speed on this little thing. Yet, if all else fails, you should at the very latest have a full chapter by the tenth of January, because I will have been at home for a fair amount of time by then.**

 **On another note, here is my Christmas Gift to you all. Though for me it is currently Boxing Day, where I have already visited the shops and purchased a wide variety of Harry Potter merchandise, including a Ravenclaw House Keychain for my mother and a Weasley is my King T- Shirt for me, I understand due to time differences it is currently the glorious day itself for many of you out there.**

 **All will be explained after you read this little thing I've chucked together in the Author's note at the bottom, but I'll say now just how much this really means to me that you read and review and send in characters. It gives me such confidence to keep going, I love it so much.**

* * *

 **Merry Christmas to one and all! I hope you have a safe, happy and fabulous Holidays!**

 **ALL QUIET SINCE ABBOTT CONFRONTATION**

 _ **But is there more to the conflict? Reporter Vulturus uncovers the little known facts of the Abbott Family**_

 _Things have been quiet between the houses of Hogwarts ever since the explosion of angst between close-knit siblings Harrison Abbott (Ravenclaw Prefect and Chaser) and little sister Margo Abbott (Gryffindor Prefect and Beater) after revelations surrounding their family life and the huge fight they had with the black sheep of the family, Arthur Abbott (Slytherin)._

 _Eye witnesses to the event at breakfast on the second of September say that the words between brother and sister were quiet, but not aggressive before the situation escalated when the pair were confronted by their brother Arthur._

 _Sources close to the siblings, who have chosen to remain anonymous, have revealed inside information on the initial conflict._

 _"(Harrison) has been trying so hard to protect his little sister from the tragic reality of their home," our source revealed, referring of course to the affair the family tried to keep a secret. However, individuals close to Abbott have been pointing out that he was simply trying to protect little Margo, despite the feelings the bold Gryffindor was unafraid to express at Breakfast just days ago, "he's really got her best interests at heart. Margo's always been stubborn, but she and Harry have always been close."_

 _As for the third Abbott, who many don't realise at all is related to such illustrious students here such as prefects and quidditch stars Harrison and Margo, a source from the Ravenclaw common room reveals the conflict between the brothers has had a huge effect on the family._

 _Our Summer Sneaks edition (available for purchase at the price of one sickle, two knuts) shows the most troublesome Abbott loitering in Diagon Alley with friends Sebastian "Sly" Cross and Roy Maclaren this Summer, but further investigation showed that Arthur wasn't there for just a good time, he's been living away from the Abbott family for a while now._

 _"Oh, yes, Arthur's been absent for ages now." Said Georgina Gallagher,_ _whom was very close to the Abbotts, "and Margo's always been so fiercely loyal to her family, it broke her heart when he left. Of course, Harry's never been able to forgive him for that."_

 _Not only has this sibling rivalry been fanned by Arthur's seemingly unprovoked departure from the family home, some might even say it contributed to the recent scandal that further rocked the family._

 _"There's no doubt about it," said Miss Gallagher,_ _"it's been proven that the betrayal of a child can severely damage a marriage, it's likely this whole thing stemmed from that Slytherin's selfish actions."_

 _The betrayal of Arthur Abbott comes as a shock to many, the Abbotts have significant ties to the Phoenix Five, notably Hannah Abbott, their cousin and Dumbledore's Army member, who married the famous Neville Longbottom. It was common belief that the Abbotts were close-knit and loving, but again sources close the family have revealed more details._

 _"Barbara, that's their mother, is just so delightful," Norbert Havendish of Hufflepuff revealed, "I've lived just down the road from them my whole life, I never dreamed one of her kids would end up in Slytherin! I guess that was really when it started to go downhill."_

 _Barbara Abbott, notable for her work in the_ Home Cooking for Busy Witches _cookbook, where no less than seven of her recipes were included, was said to be heartbroken when the news about her second son came through._

 _"No one could believe it," said Havendish, "least of all Barbara, everyone had thought he was just fine, and then he was put in Slytherin and people started to try not to think about him."_

 _These revelations lead to the conclusion that all is most definitely not well within the Abbott household, and that maybe the fight at Breakfast was just the tip of a very large iceberg. Needless to say, the Abbott family tree is starting to look a little diseased, or is that just us? What are your thoughts on the stem of the issue? Was Harrison to blame for this incident, or is it Arthur the renegade continuing the trouble he's caused the family over the years?_

 _We're keen to hear your thoughts on the issue. Send an owl to our Head of Reader Relations at_

 _ **Quillous**_

 _ **Head of Reader Relations**_

 _ **The Hogwhisperer**_

 _ **Hogwarts**_

 _To have your opinions featured in the next edition of the Hogwhisperer._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So! Here is my present to all you readers: PM me or review with your own personal response to this article, just like you yourself were a Hogwarts Student! Some of these responses will then be published in the third chapter of Daybreak, I'll try to include heaps! I have one request! Please make it like you're a student in the time this is happening, ie, there will be a lot of responses bagging Arthur. Feel free to be creative! If you yourself were at Hogwarts send it in under that name and house, though please note that this doesn't count as an OC submission!**

 **An example of a response could be**

 _ **Quillous**_

 _ **Head of Reader Relations**_

 _ **The Hogwhisperer**_

 _ **Hogwarts**_

 _To whom it may concern,_

 _It is my express opinion that there is definitely an issue with the Abbotts, and I'm sure the inclusion of a Slytherin in the family is most definitely a contrubuting factor... etc. etc._

 _Pepper Newman, Gryffindor_

 **Make up a name! Have fun! Tell me what** ** _your_** **Hogwarts house is! I'm a Gryffindor IRL, Pottermore approved! Have a great Christmas and a brilliant New Year if I don't update before then!**


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